t the end of October 2007, NALACC had the opportunity to co-host a Community Dialogue on Trans-national Activism, with partners at the Wilson Center for International Scholars and Enlaces América.  Participants were selected to represent a diverse set of organizations and perspectives.  In particular, we tried to bring in a strong set of local immigrant leaders, both from the Mexican and Central American communities together with academics who are working on issues of civic engagement in the greater Chicago region, as well as activist organizations whose focus is mostly domestic, and more traditional “service” organizations working locally in the Latino community.  Read the final report that came out of the workshop.

NALACC is pleased to present four commissioned papers that were discussed at the Dialogue in their entirety.

Below are links to each paper in English, as well as their audio presentation, or you can read the abstracts of each paper in English or Spanish.

"Transnational Perspectives on Migrant Civic and Political Engagement" by Judith Boruchoff. Audio presentation

Paper for the Wilson Center/ Enlaces America Roundtable, by Susan Gzesh. Audio Presentation

Family Matters: Strategizing Immigrant Activism in Chicago, by Amalia Pallares. Audio Presentation
Also available is Ms. Pallares visual presentation of Chicago immigrant activism.

"Mexican Hometown Associations and the Confederation of Mexican Federations: Experiences of Binational Civic Participation" by Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro.  Also available in Spanish translation.  Audio Presentation

Additional audio segments available for download include:

-  Luis Gutierrez, Latinos Progresando, on barriers to civic engagement and how to overcome them

-  Woody Carter, University of Chicago, on civic engagement in a world dominated by electoral politics

-  Maricela Garcia, Latinos United, on key integration challenges for Latinos: early childhood education and housing

-  Jesus García, Little Village CDC, on the challenges for immigrant integration presented by the demographic shift in the location of recent immigrants from traditional urban centers to the suburbs.

-  Ricardo Estrada, Erie House, with an analysis of what it will take to build political power for transnational activism.